Drug Abuse Influence
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By: Michelle Foley and Jonathan Ye

Growing up with drugs

  1. Most teens or young adults get their drugs from either their friends or family members
  2. If you listen to songs or music that include the artist talking about the drug you will be more curouis to try them
  3. When kids are younger they look up to bigger kids and sometimes those kids arent the greatest kids, they do drugs. Which causes the kids to do them.
  4. Parental drug use and Adult drug use, has a great effect on kids growing up around them

General reasons people do drugs

Most people any age, use drugs to take away their "problems". The age different varies very much so. It can go from a 4th or 5th grader all the way to a middle aged adult. The reason drugs are the out come is depression or social problems. For a young child they might have a horrible family and life and then go to school and gets bullied, the way they think to get out of the problem is to do drugs, the same with an adult. But mostly stress or marriage problems going on in their lives that influence them to do drugs.


http://www.livestrong.com/article/79017-factors-influence-drug-abuse/
Here is some information from this website
"No single factor establishes whether an individual will become addicted to drugs; however, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports the overall risk for addiction may be influenced by many things. The biological make-up of the person (genetics), conditions at home, school or neighborhood and a person's developmental stage are examples of some of the factors that may lead to drug abuse. Teens are most likely to follow the crowd, which can have serious consequences when drugs are involved.

Depression / Social Disorders

Depression can prompt a person to try drugs as a form of self-medicating. In addition, those with social anxiety and stress-related disorders are more susceptible to drugs, as they attempt to decrease their feelings of distress. Most abused drugs produce feelings of euphoria and pleasure. Drugs like opiates (heroin, oxycontin) may bring initial euphoric feelings followed by relaxation and satisfaction, according to NIDA. Those experimenting with the drugs may learn to rely on them to cope with their condition and to manage life.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/79017-factors-influence-drug-abuse/#ixzz1pWhGqtgg "
"Genetics and Family Influence
Parents have a substantial role in the development of their children. Children gain genetic characteristics and influence from their parents. The NIDA reports that genetic factors account for between 40 and 60 percent of a person's vulnerability to addiction. In addition, children who have a poor example to follow, such as addicted parents or older siblings, may be more prone to try drugs and may view them as an acceptable outlet.

Peer Influence

The NIDA reports friends and acquaintances have the greatest influence on adolescents. In addition, NIDA maintains the earlier a person begins using drugs, the more likely he is to become an abuser of drugs. Parents who allow their children too much freedom may find it difficult to keep a tight rein on them in their teen years and may have trouble keeping them from the wrong crowd, which may lead the teen down a destructive path. Academic failure and a poor self-image may also contribute to drug abuse. Various resources are available to help parents protect their children from the many factors that could tempt them to try drugs."


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/79017-factors-influence-drug-abuse/#ixzz1pWhVrYUE
All information in *pink* is from Livestrong.com

some common questions that are asked are usually like "oh my! why?!" "what were they thinking" or a more rational take on it "What causes people to do drugs" *people = anyone*

Here are some answers and the places we got them from.
1.
http://www.narconon-drug-education.org.uk/FAQAboutDrugs/Causes-Of-Drug-Use
This shows some different ways why people may do drugs.
"Anyone who takes drugs does it to get rid of some pain or unwanted feelings, including boredom. To understand why someone takes drugs, you need to know what was wrong before he or she took them.
external image unwanted_feelings.gifHe may have had some physical problem which was causing him pain.
external image unwanted_feelings2.gifShe may have been trying to calm down.
external image unwanted_feelings3.gifMaybe he was unable to sleep.
external image unwanted_feelings4.gifShe may have wanted to feel happier.
external image unwanted_feelings5.gifOr maybe he was bored.
The drug were a temporary solution to the unwanted feelings. To get a real solution, the person would have to handle what was causing the problem in the first place."
every thing in navy blue was sited from:
http://www.narconon-drug-education.org.uk/FAQAboutDrugs/Causes-Of-Drug-Use

This is a brilliant website on influence on drug abuse for teenagers:
http://www.teen-drug-abuse.org/





"One in three popular songs contains explicit references to drug or alcohol use, according to a new report in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. That means kids are receiving about 35 references to substance.
The average adolescent is exposed to approximately 84 references to explicit substance use per day and 591 references per week, or 30,732 references per year."http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/under-the-influence-ofmusic/pcc_illegaldrugs_tv,_media_portrayal2.png
publicagenda.org


"Illicit drugs are never far from the media gaze and although identified almost a decade ago as 'a new battleground' for the alcohol and other drug (AOD) field there has been limited research examining the role of the news media and its effects on audiences and policy.
Media can influence audiences in four key ways: by setting the agenda and defining public interest; framing issues through selection and salience; indirectly shaping individual and community attitudes towards risk; and feeding into political debate and decision making.
For example, media coverage of the escalating heroin-related problems in Australia played a strong role in generating interest in heroin overdoses, framing public discourse in terms of a health and/or criminal issue and affecting political decisions."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21355898
Jonathan Ye


Jonathan Ye